86,400 Seconds in a Day

The Candor

2 years ago

By: Brandon Nguyen

Several calculus assignments are due Monday, a chemistry and biology exam is set for Tuesday, and to top off the week an argumentative essay is due Friday. Finals are around the corner and if you haven’t already hit the wall of anxiety you’ll eventually feel the surge of stress creeping up on you. The most important step to preparing and tackling a dramatic finals week is to execute your plans, namely, avoid procrastination. Every so often, however, students are vigorously tapping away on social media instead of marking calendars, making notes, and planning next week’s schedule. Consider time through a different perspective. Instead of looking at time as minutes in an hour, hours in a day, days in a week, or even weeks in a month, students should monitor time as seconds in a day. There are approximately 86,400 seconds in a day. Time doesn’t earn interest. Use it or lose it. So why waste time when it doesn’t carry over to the next day? Tally up the seconds you waste fiddling through viral YouTube videos or Facebook pictures in one day, and you’d be surprised as to how much time is lost. The workload will be heavier and it will make an impression on you if you drag your feet.

Adopt productive behaviors such as making a “To-Do” list. Keeping a task-list is an instantaneous stress avoiding measure that manages time and keeps life organized. When we know what to do and when to do something, we are less likely to conveniently forget. Start the most daunting tasks first. Doing so, we are driven to keep working and sometimes we will find ourselves with the finished product that created the most stress. An easy and resourceful way to completing large projects is to break them up into little steps. Divide the lengthy tasks into shorter manageable tasks. Then reward yourself after completion. This eliminates the crammed study session the night before and the risk of needing to pull an all nighter. The workload will be less taxing and more approachable when you study little by little each night a few days prior to exam day.

We only get 84,600 seconds in a day. Saving a few puts valued minutes and hours back into our life. Beating the clock can and will back stress and turn away depression. The perks of being proactive and tackling your assignments allows students to utilize their free time and engage themselves in other leisure and social activities. Organization also leads to peace of mind and confidence. When you’re free of clutter there is a state of serenity. When students stay organized and steer clear of disorganization, they will feel calmer and continue driving to the finish line. Moreover, adopting efficient behaviors not only reduces stress, but also prepares you for the working world. Organized and more efficient workers have more successful, fulfilled careers. Imagine showing up late to an important meeting and failing to prepare. The frustration will unravel when you struggle to find crucial documents and files, and the disappointment on your boss’s face will provoke you with dismay. These a just a few embarrassments that working adults face when disorganization meets reality.

College is like an unopened book; you never know what to expect until you immerse yourself in it. Students can be captured by vampires of laziness and procrastination which are the epitome of disorganization. Conversely, students could also be engaged in reading, writing, studying, and even socializing when students learn to create a schedule that establishes priorities. In doing so, students will limit the overwhelming fear of stress from being disorganized and procrastinating. The awe-inspiring benefit of being organized and prioritizing will not only reduce heavy-heartedness in college students, but also empower the strength and self-discipline to keep moving forward to achieve their goals. The law of physics states that inertia allows a body in motion to stay in motion unless enacted upon by another force. As a college student, you must ask yourself, “Where is inertia drawing me? Am I falling into stress-induced depression or well organized and confident happiness?” Everybody has a budget of 86,400 seconds to win the latter. Take that bargain and lose no time by starting now.